Monday, March 31, 2014

Many questions remain in the wake of last week's historic NLRB decision that Northwestern University scholarship athletes have a right to form a union. The NCAA will no doubt fight the NLRB's ruling that the football players are employees, and the ruling could affect college athletics around the country.

We do know some things, though, about the potential impact of the decision:

The NLRB ruling applies only to private colleges and universities. That's because the National Labor Relations Act only covers private employers. Athletes at public schools would have to proceed under state law. In states like Michigan, public employees have the same rights as private employees but they're governed by the state agency rather than the federal.

Unionizing could give college athletes a say in their working life. Many college athletes are subject to strict rules about where they live, when they work, what they wear and where they go. There are restrictions on their public comments and social media postings. They cannot profit off their image or reputation. Their schedules are tightly controlled, and they can be required to devote as many as 50 hours per week on football activities during the season. Should college athletes organize a union, they could negotiate changes to these restrictions.

Players say they want to negotiate for full cost-of-attendance scholarships and the right to their names, images, and likenesses. They want basic safety standards, protection for the scholarships of injured athletes and an end to the practice of making athletes pay for injuries and sports-related health issues. They want the NCAA to keep athletes from having to shoulder the costs of injuries and sports-related health issues. They want more rights in the NCAA’s disciplinary process, more rights to transfer between schools and better graduation rates. (Read more about their demands here.)

College athletes might be able to apply for workers' compensation. And college athletes might be more likely to win workers' compensation cases following the NLRB's ruling.

If athletes at many colleges organize, multiemployer bargaining might result, with the NCAA bargaining for all the colleges. In that case, the colleges would turn over bargaining duties to the NCAA the way major league baseball teams turn over bargaining to Major League Baseball.

Teamster NewsCCTA strike heads into third week, board to explore options WPTZ News 5 ...negotiations between management and the Teamsters Union is the top priority, but there are other options to explore. They include legal remedies, such as asking for a judge to step in and file an injunction requiring union members work during the negotiations...CCTA offers proposal to drivers Vermont Digger ...On Friday, March 28, CCTA and the Union engaged in negotiations for over 17 hours. The negotiations resulted in CCTA delivering another complete written compromise contract proposal to the Union...TradeCokie Roberts Picked a Fight With Alan Grayson on the TransPacific Partnership. Guess Who Won? naked capitalism ...“Fast Track” legislation simply is a ploy to jam the resulting surrender to multinational corporations through Congress, without hearings, without mark-ups, without amendments and even without significant debate...State BattlesRaising the Minimum Wage Does not ‘Kill Jobs’ – Preliminary Evidence from 2014 Center for Economic Policy and Research ...At the beginning of 2014, thirteen states increased their minimum wage…. Goldman Sachs compared the employment change … They concluded that … the group of states that had hikes at the start of 2014 in fact performed better than states without hikes...Right-to-work takes away employer choice (opinion) St. Louis Post Dispatch ... A good wage creates a consumer that with a disposable income that can purchase a good or service from local businesses investing in the local community...Voters May Decide 'Right to Work' Issue; Controversy Builds Ozarks First ...Sen. Eric Burlison, a Republican representing Springfield, says the "Right to Work" bill he introduced may ultimately be decided by Missouri voters...New G.O.P. Bid to Limit Voting in Swing States New York Times ...Pivotal swing states under Republican control are embracing significant new electoral restrictions on registering and voting that go beyond the voter identification requirements that have caused fierce partisan brawls...The War on Workers80 percent of U.S. adults face near-poverty, unemployment, survey finds (old) Associated Press ...Four out of 5 U.S. adults struggle with joblessness, near-poverty or reliance on welfare for at least parts of their lives, a sign of deteriorating economic security and an elusive American dream...A Nation of Takers? (opinion) New York Times ...Here are five public welfare programs that are wasteful and turning us into a nation of “takers.” First, welfare subsidies for private planes...The New Billionaire Political Bosses Robert Reich ...So far in the 2014 election cycle, “Americans for Prosperity,” the Koch brother’s political front group, has aired more than 17,000 broadcast TV commercials, compared with only 2,100 aired by Republican Party groups...United Autoworkers membership grows slightly Associated Press ...The United Auto Workers said its membership grew by nearly 9,000 people last year, the union said in a filing with Department of Labor, the fourth-straight year that the union has rebuilt...Plutocracy without end: Why the 1 percent always defeats the middle class (opinion) Salon ...Plutocracy shocks us every day with its viciousness, but that doesn’t mean God will strike it down. The middle-class model worked much better for about ninety-nine percent of the population, but that doesn’t make it some kind of dialectic inevitability...Waves of Nationwide Actions Planned at Key Historic Moment Alternet ...The #WaveOfAction extends from the day Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated to Independence Day. The campaign will begin with candlelight vigils around the world at the time of MLK’s assassination, which was 7:05 pm EST on April 4...California Farmers Short of Labor, and Patience New York Times ...the powerful Western Growers Association, a group based in Irvine, Calif., that represents hundreds of farmers in California and Arizona, says many of its members may withhold contributions from Republicans in congressional races because of the party’s stance against a comprehensive immigration overhaul...MiscellaneousAdelson Wooed by Republican Presidential Prospects at Vegas Meet Bloomberg ...Three Republican governors eyeing the White House, including embattled New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, were in Las Vegas yesterday to court Sheldon Adelson, a billionaire casino owner who could give any of their eventual campaigns a major financial boost...

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Teamster NewsSpecial City Council Meeting to Address Teamsters Strike Against CCTA Burlington Free Press ...One of the two items on the agenda of a Burlington City Council meeting that starts 5 pm Wednesday will be an update on the Teamster drivers' strike from Chittenden County Transportation Authority representatives...Teamster Drivers Strike at CCTA Enters Week 2 WCAX ...It's week two of the Teamsters bus drivers' strike, and riders are still struggling to get around. With no apparent end in sight, some families that rely on public transportation say they fear the worst...Huge Teamster turnout at pro-worker, anti-RTW4Less rally in Missouri TeamsterNation ...A large contingent of Teamsters joined well over 3,000 workers in Jefferson City today to rally against right-to-work and paycheck deception bills before the Missouri Legislature...The death of an employer scam American Prospect ...The decisions of the NLRB and the California Labor Commissioner signal that the days of industry-wide misclassification—at least, for port truckers—may be numbered...

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Patrick Stephens doesn't think unions are only for Democrats. He posted this comment on the Teamsters Facebook page, which we liked so much we're sharing:

It has often been said to me Unions are only for Democrats, well let me say I am a Lifelong Conservative and my workplace has gone Union, and I think this is the greatest happening since sliced bread. The working man needs representation and a group to look out for his or her interests, no company or government agency is going to do that! Proud to be affiliated with the Teamsters!

A large contingent of Teamsters joined well over 3,000 workers in Jefferson City today to rally against right-to-work and paycheck deception bills before the Missouri Legislature.

Secretary of State Jason Kander looked out at the huge crowd and said he felt like the cavalry arrived.

Extremists backed by ALEC are pushing the unfair, anti-worker legislation. Fortunately, there is bipartisan opposition to it. Republican and Democratic lawmakers spoke to the working people standing in front of the state capitol. Their message: lawmakers need to get their priorities straight and work on creating good jobs.

Clint Zweifel

Gov. Jay Nixon, who vetoed a right-to-work-for-less bill last year, spoke to the crowd. He said if a right-to-work bill reaches his desk he'll veto it again. And if it's put on the ballot, he pledged to stand with union to beat it again.

"Instead of putting forth bills that support the middle class, some here in the Missouri Legislature are putting forth bills to destroy it," Nixon said.

Our Teamster brother Clint Zweifel, Missouri state treasurer, also spoke. He described the advantages of unions.

Having a union is about opening up a door of opportunity for all of us. Having a union gives you a voice at work and it gives you a voice in our larger economy. Having a union makes sure people who build a community can afford to live in a community...Having a union means you're optimistic about your future because you have a voice.

Zweifel said unions let parents spend times coaching soccer teams or leading scout troops instead of taking two jobs just to make ends week. His father and grandfather were union carpenters, and he remembers a sticker on his dad's lunchbox. It said,

It didn't look good for ALEC to be holding an expensive backroom party for 17 state lawmakers, especially since ALEC claims it's a charity that doesn't do much lobbying.

As we all know by now, ALEC is a corporate lobby that tries to lower wages, eradicate public education, eliminate environmental protections, weaken unions, make workplaces more dangerous and empower corporations.

"Are they buying access to your state leaders?" CBS 5 asks rhetorically. And then answers its own question, calling the story "an exclusive look at how one of the countries' most controversial nonprofit organizations influences state leaders."

The camera "spots state lawmaker after state lawmaker, along with lobbyists and power brokers heading into a backroom -- a closed-door dinner with an open bar at a restaurant with $70 steaks."

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Bodies of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire victims in coffins on the sidewalk

Far too many workers are still dying on the job in the United States, 103 years after the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire killed 146 garment workers in New York City. Though the tragedy inspired better safety standards, 12 workers are still killed every day on the job in the United States. The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire was one of the deadliest industrial accidents in history. It didn't have to be. When the fire broke out, workers jumped from the eight, ninth and tenth floors to escape the flames. They couldn't take the fire escapes because the owners had locked them to prevent theft and breaks.

Unions struggled for decades to improve working conditions. It's an issue especially dear to Teamsters' hearts because highway accidents are the leading cause of death on the job. Truck drivers are more likely to die at work than people in any other occupation.

Today, according to the Associated Press, two people died in northeast Kansas after a cellphone tower they were working on collapsed.

Teamsters, union families and their supporters will hold a large (and we expect spirited) rally in Missouri's state capital tomorrow as Missouri lawmakers are expected to vote on a right-to-work-for-less bill.

Lawmakers are also expected to vote on paycheck deception. Corporate special interest groups are pushing for right-to-work-for-less and paycheck deception to restrict workers' rights and weaken their political power.

Although both are priorities of Republican leadership in the House, there’s bipartisan opposition to both bills. And as one Republican lawmaker said,

You can follow the debate tomorrow here: http://streaming.house.mo.gov/chamber/. People will be livetweeting using the #moleg hashtag as well as #paycheckdeception, #righttowork, and likely #HB1617 and #HB1770 as well.

Teamster NewsTeamsters conference, CN to enter labor negotiations Progressive Railroading ...CN announced on Friday that the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference - Conductors, Trainpersons and Yardpersons (TCRC-CTY) has accepted the Class I's offer to enter labor negotiations for a contract settlement, on the condition that final and binding arbitration will apply if the parties cannot reach an agreement...Pacific 9 Transport, Teamsters Reach Settlement on Organization Effort Transportation Topics ...Pacific 9 Transportation, a Los Angeles-area port trucker, and the Teamsters have reached a settlement agreement that bars the carrier from penalizing drivers who support the union’s effort to organize them...Charleston School Bus Drivers, Community Speak Out About Safety Concerns teamster.org ...Teamster school bus drivers were joined by parents, community, political and faith leaders, as well as representatives from Teamsters Local 509, at Monday night’s Charleston County School Board meeting...TradePhilippines Engages US on TPP Membership Tax News ...The United States and the Philippines, during their recent meeting under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA), agreed to a program of expanded future engagement on bilateral, regional, and multilateral trade issues, and, in particular, on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) treaty...Memo to USTR: Global governance deals cause US economic decline Trade Reform ...We don’t need to give up our sovereignty. We don’t need global governance. We don’t need unilateral trade disarmament and economic decline. We don’t need offshoring in the guise of “global supply chains”. We don’t need the same-old “investment” deals for Froman’s Wall Street buddies… because they helped drive the economy into the ditch...State BattlesRight to work is wrong for Missouri workers and businesses (opinion) Kansas City Star ...The best way to ensure economic security for Missouri’s working families is through quality jobs with family supporting wages and quality benefits...Illinois working families face major threat with Rauner primary win People’s World ...Working families, organized labor, progressives, and other democratic forces face a major threat from the right with billionaire venture capitalist Bruce Rauner winning the Republican contest for governor in the Mar. 18 primaries...War on WorkersMore Evidence that Half of America is In or Near Poverty Nation of Change ...The original poverty measures were (and still are) based largely on the food costs of the 1950s. But while food costs have doubled since 1978, housing has more than tripled, medical expenses are six times higher, and college tuition is eleven times higher...Document: JPMorgan Chase Bets $10.4 Billion on the Early Death of Workers Wall Street on Parade ...Families of young JPMorgan Chase workers who have experienced tragic deaths over the past four months, have been kept in the dark on many details, including the fact that the bank most likely held a life insurance policy on their loved one – payable to itself...How you support the Koch Brothers (even if you don’t know it) Washington Post ...On Feb. 26, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid blasted billionaires Charles and David Koch, calling them “about as un-American as anyone that I can imagine.” Less than a week later, he continued railing against the duo, saying: “Senate Republicans are addicted to Koch.” As it turns out, we all may be...Union: Train operator in crash 'tired' Associated Press ...An operator of a Chicago public-transit train that jumped the tracks and scaled an escalator at one of nation's busiest airports Monday may have dozed off, a union official said...Chinese Wal-Mart Employees Protest Layoffs New Tang Dynasty Television ...Wal-Mart's practice of closing stores across China, then turning around and opening a slew of new stores, has met with resistance from its laid-off employees, who organized protests to demand labor rights...Report: 22,000 mortgage workers fired in fourth quarter Los Angeles Times ...Mortgage-related firings totaled nearly 22,000 in the fourth quarter of 2013, the highest level in six years, according to a tally by Mortgage Daily...New Lawsuit Alleges That Wells Fargo Has a Manual for Mass Fabrication of Foreclosure Documents Naked Capitalism ...A smoking gun about fabrication may have been found...Court reverses ruling on swipe fees in favor of banks Washington Post ...In a victory for the banking industry, a U.S. appeals court on Friday struck down a district court decision that ordered the Federal Reserve to rewrite its rules governing fees that banks collect each time a debit card is swiped...Wall Street Bonuses and the Minimum Wage Portside ...Wall Street banks handed out $26.7 billion in bonuses to their 165,200
employees last year. That amount would be enough to more than double the
pay for all 1,085,000 Americans who work full-time at the current
federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour...MiscellaneousYou call this a meritocracy? How rich inheritance is poisoning the American economy Huffington Post ...No, your economic fortune isn't just based on work ethic and idea quality. It's also a gaping inheritance disparity...

The lawsuit alleged Amway is a "pyramid scheme" — which was changed to "illegal scheme" in an amended version — in which distributors rarely sell products to outside customers, only to other new distributors they bring in, who must bring more recruits in to make money. New entrants, the lawsuit says, were "effectively required" to purchase products and event tickets from the high-level distributors.

But if Amway was ripping off people, at least it was doing it with American products. Not any more. Inbound Logistics recently interviewed an Amway executive, who said:

Until about 2010, most of our supply chain and manufacturing was U.S.-based. That has now changed. Amway has been moving home care manufacturing closer to the point of sale in different regions. We're making product in Belgium for Europe and Russia, and producing in China for Southeast Asia.

So, let's review: Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said for months that right-to-work-for-less wasn't on his agenda. Then Amway heir Dick DeVos gathered some of his sociopath billionaire pals together to pressure Republicans to pass a right-to-work-for-less bill in the lame duck session of 2012. According to Mother Jones,

They had formulated a single, all-encompassing strategy: They had a fusillade of TV, radio, and internet ads in the works. They'd crafted 15 pages of talking points to circulate to Republican lawmakers. They had even reserved the lawn around the state capitol for a month to keep protesters at bay.

We've known all along that billionaires like Dick DeVos don't care one bit about creating jobs in Michigan or anywhere else. All they want to do is to cut costs. When he was CEO of Amway, Dick DeVos cut over 1,300 jobs, mostly in Michigan.

So knowing that Amway moved jobs overseas just makes it more painful to think people actually believe Dick DeVos's lies.

The Los Angeles Times reported the Pac 9 settlement strengthened the hand of port truckers who want to join a union. It follows a string of victories by the port drivers challenging their misclassification. Reports the Times:

A total of 515 drivers serving the two ports have filed complaints with the state Labor Commissioner’s office about wage disputes, many saying exorbitant deductions had been taken from their checks.

The state agency has sided with drivers in all 30 of the cases decided so far, determining that the workers had been misclassified as independent contractors when their job requirements made them tantamount to employees.

On the other coast, the new New York law will impose stiff penalties -- including prison sentences -- on companies that misclassify their workers.

The bill ... creates new definitions for employee and independent contractor, with standards above and beyond the Internal Revenue Service definitions.

Under the law, employers will bear the burden of properly classifying their drivers. The law also includes a whistleblower provision for those who report misclassification...

The law also outlines penalties for employers and contractors who violate the law. First-time offenders will pay a civil penalty of up to $2,500 per misclassified employee and either spend up to 30 days in prison or pay up to $25,000 in criminal fines. Subsequent offenses are penalized at $5,000 per affected employee and carry prison sentences up to 60 days and criminal fines up to $50,000.

As Hamilton Nolan at Gawker points out, the video leaves out the real reason Target employees shouldn't join a union:

Target does not want any of its employees to unionize is not because it fears a loss of its precious "culture," but because it fears having to pay higher wages and provide better benefits and working conditions. I don't know how that bit was left out of the script. Quite an oversight.

Unions 4 Workers posted An Maben's terrific response to the video on their Facebook page:

Unions are a 'business' that only exist to perpetuate themselves. Yeah, right. Due to my mother's union membership, her job was protected when her boss tried to fire her and replace her with a younger woman - just because the woman was younger - her job evaluations were actually not as good as my mother's. Because of her union, my mother had a pension to add to her Social Security and excellent Medicare supplement insurance after working at the company only 15 years. Yeah, because of her 'terrible' union my 50-something mom kept her job and my parent's retirement years were much better. Why is Target so afraid of unionization? Because they don't want to supply any of that to their employees.

Postal workers provide reliable mail service to almost every American. They may also be able to help working families with basic financial services. Lawmakers like Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) want to use the Post Office to help the 68 million Americans who do not have access to basic financial services.

Warren articulates the problems those families face:

Collectively, these households spent about $89 billion in 2012 on interest and fees for payday loans and check cashing. That means the average underserved household spends roughly 10 percent of its annual income on interest and fees -- about the same amount they spend on food.

Think about that: about 10 percent of a family's income just to manage getting checks cashed, bills paid, and, sometimes, a short-term loan to tide them over. That's more than a full month's income just to try to navigate the basics. The poor pay more, and that's one of the reasons people get trapped at the bottom of the economic ladder.

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Teamster NewsTeamsters score a win against “sharecropping on wheels.” But will the trucking industry really change? Washington Post ...Along with auto technicians, fast food workers, and baggage handlers, another profession has been hit by the separation of labor from employer: Port truckers, who haul containers from cargo ships on short trips around the terminal...Port trucking company agrees to labor settlement with drivers Orange County Register ...Carson-based Pacific 9 Transportation Inc. has agreed to a settlement with 50 independent truck drivers that could force the company to treat them as employees, not independent contractors, according to an agreement filed with a federal labor relations agency in Los Angeles...Anheuser-Busch, Teamsters reach tentative deal Associated Press ...Anheuser-Busch and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters say they have reached a tentative deal on a five-year contract for workers at the beverage-maker's 12 U.S. breweries...Canadian National Railway Company and Teamsters Canada Rail Conference resume negotiations PR Newswire ...Today, the Honourable Dr. K. Kellie Leitch, Minister of Labour and Minister of Status of Women, congratulated the Canadian National Railway (CN) and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) for returning to the bargaining table and working to reach a new agreement...TradeDebate in US over trade deficit with China heats up South China Morning Post ...A chorus of voices in the United States has been calling for tougher trade action against China, alleging imports from the country are slashing jobs in the US...State BattlesRight to work bill on the Missouri House schedule Associated Press ...Missouri House Republican leaders are vowing to consider legislation known to supporters as "right to work" when lawmakers return from their weeklong break...Republican pitches alternative to liquor privatization The Sentinel ...A Bucks County Republican lawmaker opposed to selling off state-run liquor stores on Thursday unveiled an alternative to privatization of Pennsylvania’s market share of the industry...State DOJ files first appeals in Capitol singalong cases Wisconsin State Journal ..The Wisconsin Department of Justice for the first time Friday appealed a Dane County judge’s decision to throw out tickets related to the Capitol singalong...More than 100 USM students, faculty protest proposed budget cuts, layoffs Bangor Daily News ...University of Southern Maine students and faculty chanted, yelled and — in one case — stretched out on the floor of the hallway outside the office of Provost Michael R. Stevenson to protest during meetings Friday at which 15 full-time faculty members in nine departments were expected to be laid off...The War on WorkersSpain austerity: Huge Madrid protest turns violent BBC News ...Violence has broken out at the end of an anti-austerity protest attended by tens of thousands of people in the Spanish capital Madrid...When Minimum Wage Rises, Many Are Left Looking Up at It New York Times ...so many immigrants are willing to do this work that it is not hard for unscrupulous businesses to find people desperate enough to do it for less than what the law requires...U.S. IRS audited fewer wealthy Americans in 2013 Reuters ... The U.S. Internal Revenue Service said on Friday that it audited fewer high-income Americans in 2013 than it did in 2012 or 2011, while it conducted more audits of people with no income...Pixel & Dimed: On Not Getting By in the Gig Economy Fast Company ...For one month, I became the “micro-entrepreneur” touted by companies like TaskRabbit, Postmates, and Airbnb. Instead of the labor revolution I had been promised, all I found was hard work, low pay, and a system that puts workers at a disadvantage...Industries Across the U.S. Are Stealing Wages From Their Lowest Paid Workers The Real News ...about a quarter of workers had not been paid minimum wage in the week of the survey. Three-quarters of them had not been paid overtime pay even though they had worked overtime hours...Out of Work, Out of Luck Five Thirty Eight Economics ...Many if not most of the 3.8 million Americans who have been out of work for more than six months will never again hold steady jobs...The Stone Unturned: Credit Ratings New York Times ...It’s the one question about the 2008 financial crisis that people still ask me more than any other: Why have regulators done so little to rein in the credit rating agencies? Other institutions that contributed to the mortgage debacle have submitted to new rules and compliance requirements, but Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s and their peers remained relatively untouched...S&P Judge Tentatively Rules It Must Face Deception Claims Bloomberg ...McGraw Hill Financial Inc. (MHFI)’s Standard & Poor’s unit must face California’s claims it deceived the state’s pension funds in its ratings of mortgage-back securities, a judge said in a provisional ruling...